Texts in Conversation
Romans says God shows mercy or hardens as he chooses, grounded in Israel’s unique election. Tobit uses similar language and says God alone grants wisdom and raises up or casts down, showing Paul’s own argument is based on these Jewish traditions.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 4:19
Deuterocanon
16 Give of your bread to the hungry, and of your garments to them that are naked: of all your abundance give alms; and do not let your eye be grudging when you give alms. 17 Pour out your bread and your wine on the tomb of the just, and do not give to sinners. 18 Ask counsel of every man that is wise, and do not despise any counsel that is profitable. 19 And bless the Lord your God at all times, and ask of him that your ways may be made straight, and that all your paths and counsels may prosper: for every nation has not good counsel; but the Lord will give to them all good things; and whom he will the Lord humbles to the nethermost Hades. And now, child, remember these commandments, and do not let them be blotted out of your heart. 20 And now, child, I show you that I left ten talents of silver in trust with Gabael the brother of Gabri at Rages of Media. 21 And do not fear, my child, because we have become poor: you have much wealth, if you fear God and avoid every kind of sin and do the things which are good in the sight of the Lord your God.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Romans 9:18
New Testament
17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 20 But who indeed are you—a mere human being—to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? 22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?
Date: 55–58 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In Tobit 4:9 Tobit clearly refers to the doctrine of Israel's election when he affirms that God has total freedom of choice in granting good counsel only to Israel, for he alone has the power to lift up as he wills and to cast down as he wills. This affirmation reflects what we find in Daniel 2:21, both in the MT Aramaic and essentially in the two Greek forms of the book ... 'And he himself changes the seasons and times; he sets up kings and removes them, giving wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who understand' (my translation). In Romans 9:1-29 Paul emphasizes that the word of God has not failed but indeed remains operative because of Israel's election ..."
Alexander A. Di Lella, “Tobit 4,19 and Romans 9,18: An Intertextual Study,” Bib 90.2 (2009): 260–263.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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